Trial & Error
by DarkMaverik
Summary: Lucy tries to regain her friendship with Mike with a trip to the cinema, but Mike is hesitant to accept, worried she will cling to him like she used to. Will the 'not a date' restore their lost friendship? Or will it drive a further wedge between them?
1. Chapter 1

**Trial & Error**

by Maverik

**Part One**

Mike's day started as any other weekend. He woke up, had breakfast, showered and brushed his teeth, put on his scarf, and got ready to go wander around town looking for something to do. Reaching out, he grabbed hold of the doorknob and twisted it, pulling the door open, and revealing an unexpected sight...

"Lucy?" He stared, slightly stunned as the white cat stood with her fist raised as though she had been just about to knock. "What are you doing here?" He asked with a confused look. They hadn't really spoken much recently, and there had been no plans made for them to see each other that day.

"Oh! Ummmm..." Lucy fumbled over her words a little. Mike's look of surprise slowly melted into that of disapproval.

"Just say it and get it over with..." He looked away, clearly annoyed that she was still acting like this around him, even after so long had passed since that fateful day. Lucy looked hurt for a moment. But only a moment.

"Hey! I was just surprised ok! I wasn't expecting the door to open as I knocked on it." She furrowed her brow angrily. Mike tapped his foot somewhat impatiently, not really believing her excuse. "Look. I got some free tickets to go see that new movie today from some stupid radio contest dad entered. He didn't want them so he gave them to me. I thought you might like to go see it." She crossed her arms and looked away.

"Why don't you just go see it with your brother or something?" Mike asked, blowing her off casually as he walked past her and shut the door. She turned to face him, getting more pissed off that he had simply ignored her like that.

"Jordan's already seen it." She replied through grit teeth.

"Well what about Paulo?" He asked, stopping and looking around, pretending to decide which way he wanted to go.

"He's busy..." She responded, her fist clenching a little.

"What about-"

"**Do you want to see the movie or not?**" She shouted, causing the Korat to cringe and grab his ears in pain. Lucy took a deep breath as she recomposed herself. Mike let his ears go, his arms dropping to his sides.

"Is this really just a friends thing?" His voice was deadpan, and he still refused to turn around. Lucy looked at her feet.

"Is that so hard for you to imagine?" Neither of them wanted to make eye contact. "Now that you have her back in your life... Is there no room at all left for me?" Mike winced a little, feeling the sting of her words.

"It's not that Lucy. I just keep worrying that you're going to become too attached to me again. And I can't let you go on thinking like that. It isn't fair. To either of us..." Lucy's expression became blank. She walked past Mike.

"Forget it." She said simply, walking away from him. The Korat sighed softly.

"What time does it start?" Lucy turned her head to catch his gaze.

"About an hour."

"We should hurry then if we're going to walk." He casually strolled up and began walking along side her, looking slightly disinterested, trying to seem like this was no big deal. Almost like they just happened to be walking in the same direction.

They walked for a block or two in complete silence. Neither really knowing what to say to the other. It was such a strange situation. They had been friends for most of their lives. They'd played together, fought each other, talked about all manner of topics, talked about nothing in particular. But they had always talked... The awkward silence between them was just so... Alien...

Most of the time they just stared straight ahead. Blank faced and focused on their path. But every now and then, one would steal a glance at the other... _'This shouldn't be so hard! I know we haven't really spoken much since she confessed, but...'_

"Look I-" They both began speaking at the same time, causing them to stop in their tracks and look at each other. A moment of silence passed as they stared at each other, before Mike found himself unable to help it. He chuckled a little, smiling. Lucy followed suit with a slight grin and giggle.

"I'm sorry for being so hostile..." Mike rubbed the back of his head.

"I'm sorry for not treating you like a friend..." Lucy absent-mindedly crossed her arms and thumbed her elbow, looking slightly sheepish.

"Still... I bet you can't beat me to the cinema." A grin adorned the Korat's face as his eyebrow rose, officially signing the challenge. It took a moment to sink in, Lucy hardly able to believe her luck. Things were finally starting to go back to the way they were.

"Oh you are **so** on." The Khao Manee gave a competitive stare, readying herself to dash off with her friend. But even as she pulled her leg back to prepare, Mike had already taken off ahead of her, looking back and sticking his tongue out.

"Catch me if you can slowpoke!" He called back light-heartedly. Lucy was taken aback a second, but shook her head and launched after the Korat. She had no time to be shocked, the blue cat already had the head start.

_'When was the last time we raced like this?'_ Mike's thoughts distracting him only slightly. He remembered the field day, and all her attempts to beat him in every event he entered. It was kind of annoying... But at the same time, he didn't really mind.

"Who's the slowpoke now huh?" Lucy called out as she whipped past Mike, his thoughts having caused him to fall back a little. He grit his teeth and started to run faster, but he knew that, while he could over take her, they would be at the theatre before he managed yo do it. It was time for a little strategic thinking.

"We'll just see who wins!" He shouted as he took a sharp left down an alleyway, leaving Lucy on the main road. She turned heel and bolted after him, swerving down the same way, waving her arms about.

"Shortcuts are cheating!" She yelled angrily at her friend who had the cinema in his sights.

"I never said what path we would take!" He shouted back, tauntingly pulling an eyelid down and sticking his tongue out at her as he ran out the other side of the alley and made a beeline for the cinema.

A loud horn caught his attention. The screeching of breaks. Lucy screamed. And then... Silence...

_to be continued..._


	2. Chapter 2

**Trial & Error**

by Maverik

**Part Two**

Sirens. Red and blue flashing lights. The murmur of police huddled around the body. A horrifying sight. The inspector looked over the crime scene grimly.

"Young male... Cat... God... There's barely enough of him that's recognisable enough to discern anything else. The boys in the mortuary are going to have a field day..." He turned to one of his subordinates and frowned. "Where is the witness?" He asked, recomposing himself.

"Right this way sir..." The officer lead the inspector to a sobbing tabby.

"Oh Gerald! Why did it have to be you! Why couldn't it have been me!" She wailed inconsolably.

"This movie is way to over dramatic." Lucy criticised, popping a few more popcorn kernels in her mouth. Mike shook a little, unable to tear his eyes away from the screen.

"This was a bad idea... We should have seen something else..." He murmured quietly.

"Well what did you expect from a title like 'Motorcide'?" Lucy asked slightly teasingly.

"Well this just hits a little close to home right now ok? I was almost just like that guy!" He reasoned with a semi fearful tone.

"Oh don't be such a baby. He missed you by a mile!" She shot back. Mike grumbled something inaudibly and sat further back into his seat.

As the film wore on, Mike started to get very involved with the film. He fell completely silent, reacting only with slight noises to acknowledge Lucy's remarks, or the occasional shush when she would laugh inappropriately at just how serious the actors were. After a while, Lucy started to steel glances at the Korat. He was too involved to notice, but she couldn't help herself.

_'Come on! Why am I so distracted by that jerk? He's just here because I didn't want to see the film alone...'_ She glued her eyes back to the screen and fought the urge to look back again. It was a loosing battle... She found herself constantly drawn back to him.

_'Ok... So, maybe I did kind of want to patch things up with him... But it isn't a crime to want to have a friend back!'_ She reasoned determinedly. Mike suddenly turned his attention to her and glared.

"Just what are you doing?" He whispered harshly. Lucy looked confused for a moment before Mike held his hand up, drawing her attention to her own hand that gripped his tight.

"Jeez! It was just a mistake! I wasn't thinking about where I put my hand ok?" She defended herself angrily, not really sure herself why she had put her hand there.

"You're something else, you know that Lucy?" Mike scoffed. "I thought you were better than this. I thought, 'Hey, she seems genuine! Maybe she really is over it and can act like a reasonable person!' But I guess I was wrong." Lucy stared in disbelief. He was taking this whole situation entirely the wrong way. She couldn't understand why he was blowing up at her without even giving her the chance to defend herself.

"Excuse me... But I'm going to have to ask you two to leave..." The gruff voice belonged to a rather imposing looking figure dressed in an usher's uniform. The pair looked about the room and noticed that about half the cinema had been staring at their disruptive argument, albeit a hushed one. "**Now**." The usher added firmly.

The two were escorted off the premises, neither looking at each other or saying anything. Mike was obviously very sore at Lucy for both supposedly trying to hit on him again, and for making him miss the end of the movie. Lucy was on the verge of smacking him upside the jaw for being such a jerk.

"It was just a mistake alright?" She tried once again to explain. Mike refused to respond. "I must have just put my arm on the arm rest and coincidentally grabbed your hand." She sighed.

"Must have? Coincidentally? Jeez, can't you even control your own body?" Mike glared harshly at her as he took steps towards him.

"What's that supposed to mean?" She took a step backwards, starting to lose her confidence.

"It means that you're just making up more excuses!" He shouted, causing Lucy to flinch a little. "Why would you do something like that? Why are you trying bso/b hard to make things awkward between us?" Lucy opened her mouth to respond, but Mike cut her off. "No. You know what? Don't even bother. This was your chance to prove to me that you were still capable of being my friend. But now I see that you'll never be more than an overly clingy, co-dependant bitch." Mike turned around and started to walk away, leaving Lucy standing stunned and shocked.

A few moments passed as Mike got further and further away from the white cat. Her annoyance turned to fear, and then quickly to anger. Who the hell did Mike think he was? She wasn't going to let him leave on that note! "What the hell you jerk!" She shouted after him as she stormed towards his figure.

"You think you can act like a complete asshole and just walk away? That I would just curl up into a ball and let you get away with that?" Her legs carried her quickly, closing the gap between them. Mike turned back to face her, but as he did, he felt Lucy's hand slap him hard across his cheek. He stared at her in disbelief for a moment.

"You're not perfect you know! You have flaws just like everyone else! Where do you get off acting like I'm such a villain?" Small tears welled in Lucy's eyes. "So I'm not over you... So what? I'm not like you... I can't just turn my feelings for someone off at the drop of a hat!" She shook a little as she flaunted her emotions wildly. Mike narrowed his eyes at her.

"What are you talking about?" He shouted angrily at her, fulling her own rage.

"Oh like you don't know! You wanted to get with me for ages. When I kissed you after you saved me from that jerk in that back alley... You couldn't stop thinking about me. You liked me right up until you saw Sandy on that TV... And then suddenly, I didn't even matter to you any more." Mike was at a loss for words. "You loved me once Mike..." She whispered as she glanced at her feet.

"No I didn't..." Mike returned flatly. Lucy's eyes snapped back up to his own.

"Wha-" She started.

"I never really loved you Lucy." He extrapolated. "I liked you sure... You were pretty... You seemed like a nice person... But more importantly... You were here." Lucy took a step backwards, steadying herself, her legs quivering a little. "I never stopped loving Sandy. I just never thought I would be able to get together with her... But you seemed attainable. You were convenient." Mike's face was blank, his voice monotonous. Lucy shook her head slowly.

"No... You're lying... Why are you lying to me?" She demanded, taking another step backwards.

"I'm not lying. I'm just being honest. For the first time in a long time, I'm being honest with you." Tears started to stream down Lucy's face.

"Why..." She asked quietly. "Why are you doing this? Wasn't I a good friend? Wasn't I good to you?" She slowly started to sink to her knees.

"Sandy was better." He replied coldly. Lucy choked a little as she gazed hopelessly up at him. "You were never as good as her Lucy. You were just 'good enough'." With that, he turned away from her again, and walked away silently.

Lucy stayed where she was. Sitting in a stunned silence, unmoving. Not thinking. Barely even breathing. His words only seemed to register somewhere on the far outskirts of her mind. Like an echo across a vast and expansive dessert.

An hour passed. A man from the cinema slowly approached the young girl and knelt beside her. "Are you alright miss? You've been out here for a while..." He asked gently.

"I'm fine..." She responded quickly. "Sorry... I have to go home now." She slowly climbed to her feet, ignoring the man's offers to help her up, and silently made her way home.

Not a word to anyone. Not her pets. Not her siblings. Not her parents. She simply closed her bedroom door, locked it, and climbed into her bed.

Her brother Jordan crept up to her room, noticing that something was amiss. His hand raised, about to knock, he had to restrain himself when he heard a quiet sound. Carefully he placed his ear to the door, and heard the unmistakeable sound of Lucy sobbing quietly.

Inside her room, Lucy clutched her pillow tight to her chest. A large wet patch encircled her head from the tears that refused to stop flowing from her eyes. Lucy had never felt this much pain in her heart.

Jordan knocked quietly, but she didn't respond. She couldn't. Her voice choked loudly when she tried, turning the soft sobs to loud wails for a moment before she contained herself again. Lucy buried her face in her pillow and prayed as hard as she could that whoever it was would just go away.

Jordan frowned at the impassable door that stood between him and his emotionally overwrought sister, but he knew from the sound of it that she wouldn't open up any time soon. He leaned against the wooden barrier and spoke quietly. "Hey sis... Ummm... I'll go away in a second. But, I just wanted to let you know that I'm here for you if you need to talk ok? Or I could get one of your friends if you like? Maybe that Mike guy?" Lucy felt something in her chest freeze, like an ice cube had just been rubbed over her heart. Jordan placed his hand on her door. "Well... You know where to find me..." He said softly, walking away to give her her privacy.

Finally alone, she let go of her emotions. Crying harder than before, heaving in each breath just to let it out in a stuttered sob or choke. She cried and cried, until finally, sleep took her. A deep and dreamless sleep. Tomorrow would be a new day... But it would be a long time before she would ever be able to face any of her friends.

**The End.**


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